


concentration, distraction

by ralf



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Bows & Arrows, M/M, Magic, Shadowhunter Weapons, Weapons
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-06
Updated: 2018-10-06
Packaged: 2019-07-26 01:26:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16209782
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ralf/pseuds/ralf
Summary: “What are you doing there?”Alec stays still for another few heartbeats, then his eyes blink open and he turns his head to face Magnus. “I'm training my psychic tether to my bow and quiver.”He's what now?





	concentration, distraction

Awareness creeps in gradually. The rays of the sun are gently caressing his face, the ever-present traffic a soft hum in the background. Magnus's hand slides across the linen, searching, in vain. The lack of Alec between the sheets puts a frown on his lips and he opens his eyes slowly.

The blue cloudless sky promises a beautiful day and Magnus imagines eating on the balcony would be lovely despite the crisp air outside. But more than breakfast he longs for Alec to make his morning complete.

He rolls out of bed, summons his dressing gown with a lazy flick of his fingers and makes for the main room. He expects to find Alec in the bathroom or maybe the kitchen, preparing coffee as he usually does, so he's surprised to find him sitting cross-legged in the middle of the living room carpet. He's breathing deeply, eyes closed, arms resting in his lap, completely still. It almost looks like he's meditating but Magnus can't imagine Alec would ever do that of his own accord. He must be up to _someth_ _ing_ though, because his  pose is too purposeful to be just casual sunbathing.

Magnus stands there for a moment, trying to figure it out, but Alec's unmoving form gives nothing away. “What are you doing there?”

Alec stays still for another few heartbeats, then his eyes blink open and he turns his head to face Magnus. A small smile blooms on his face, the unconscious one Alec always gets just by looking at him. Magnus's lips quirk fondly in response.

“I'm training my psychic tether to my bow and quiver.”

Alec's words register but they don't make any sense to Magnus and he wonders if he's not as awake as he'd thought. But no, he's pretty sure it's Alec's fault that whatever he just said might as well be gibberish. For a moment he entertains the idea that Alec is having some fun at his expense but Alec's poker face is delightfully bad and he probably would have cracked already if he was trying to pull Magnus's leg.

“What?” he asks.

“I'm training with my bow,” Alec explains, not really enlightening Magnus any further.

Magnus significantly fixes Alec's empty hands and raises his eyebrows.

Alec snorts. “Not target practice, obviously. I'm deepening my bond with the weapon.”

“You're doing what?”

Alec smiles, an excited glint appearing in his eyes and he pats the carpet beside himself invitingly. “I'll show you.”

Magnus settles down by his side, eying Alec curiously. Alec returns his gaze for a moment, then resumes his previous posture, looking ahead. The slight upward curve of his mouth straightens out in concentration and his brow furrows. Then, all of a sudden he lifts his left hand and in a shower of blue sparks his bow appears, held securely between his fingers.

Magnus startles and immediately searches for traces of magic, but whatever this was, it had either nothing to do with magic or evades even his refined senses.

Alec catches his eyes, a self-satisfied smirk splaying on his face at Magnus's obvious astonishment. “Pretty neat, huh?”

Magnus blinks and then blinks some more. “I didn't know Shadowhunters could do that.”

Alec's grin widens, clearly proud of himself for taking Magnus by surprise. “It's not exactly common knowledge. It can be a crucial advantage in a fight, so we try to keep it under wraps.”

Magnus breaks away from the bow and watches Alec instead. Despite the playful demeanor he can see seriousness in Alec's eyes and he knows that Alec is well aware that he's sharing secrets of his kind with Magnus. Magnus's heart flutters in his chest at the displayed trust.

“So how exactly does that work? You mentioned a tether, so does that mean you can't do that with any random shadowhunter weapon?” Magnus asks.

“Yes. I've been practicing with this bow for almost six years now. I have two spares, but I don't use them that much, so my connection to this one is the strongest.” Alec sets the bow down in front of them and tenderly caresses the riser. “Calling it to me is pretty easy. It's a lot harder with the other ones.”

Magnus contemplates the bow for a minute. “I don't think I've ever seen you do that before.”

Alec smirks. “Well, I've never needed to do it before. While you were there to see me fight at least,” he amends at Magnus's questioning look. “It is kind of a last resort.”

Magnus nods towards the weapon. “Do it again.”

Alec smiles indulgently and raises his left hand. Blue sparkles along his fingers and the bow vanishes from the carpet and materializes in his hand. Magnus watches in awe. “Fascinating. Is there a limit to the distance you can summon it from?”

Alec laughs, delighted at Magnus's enthusiasm. “It varies. Within the walls of the Institute I can get it from basically anywhere. The adamas in the walls amplifies the connection. Outside.. eight, nine feet maybe? Depends on how focused I am.”

Magnus hums, thinking. “Where'd you summon it from earlier?”

A lovely blush dusts Alec's cheeks. “Beside the door, where I put it yesterday.”

Magnus frowns. “That's a lot more than nine feet though.”

Alec smiles sheepishly. “Yeah,” he admits. “The loft is different. It's... safe. I'm more relaxed.” He lays the bow down again. “And I suspect that the magic in your wards helps me along a little.”

Magnus stores that information away for later. It seems his wards have even more of a mind of their own than he'd thought. “What about the others? Can they do this as well?”

Alec cocks his head before answering. “Izzy and her whip are different. She wears it all the time, so she doesn't really need to call it to her. I don't think she can.” He shrugs, smiling fondly. “Then again I wouldn't know, because she's never lost her whip in a fight. But she definitely uses the connection to will it to change forms. That's pretty impressive, by shadowhunter standards.” The pride in his voice is impossible to miss.

Magnus can't help but smile, too. Isabelle is a force to be reckoned with.

“And Jace, well. He never had the patience to try and build a connection to a weapon.. or stay with the same blade for very long.” Somehow Magnus isn't surprised. Alec continues, “I think he once spent an afternoon teaching himself how to kick a fallen sword up into his hand and that was that.”

Until this morning Magnus hadn't even realized that the fighting styles of the shadowhunters he knew and considered allies and friends differed so greatly from one another. He wonders what else he doesn't know. Most of all though he wonders... “What kind of teleportation is that? Is it a wormhole like a portal, with fixed start and end points or is it the transfer of matter like when I conjure things?”

Alec meets his eyes with an apologetic smile. “I honestly have no idea about any of that. You'll have to take it up with Izzy. She's our weapons master.”

Magnus could never resist a temptation like this. “I get it. Izzy is all about theory. You're more a hands-on kind of guy.”

Alec snorts. “Really, Magnus?”

Magnus grins. “How about another practical demonstration of your skills, Mr Lightwood? I seem to recall that technically this is my bow you're handling there.”

He pauses. Knowing what he does now about the special connection Alec has to this weapon he realizes what it must have meant for Alec to give it up to him as payment. It's a sobering thought.

“If I hadn't returned the bow to you.. you couldn't have just replaced it.”

It's more statement than question but Alec answers anyway. “Yeah. It would have taken a couple years to get back to that level of closeness with a different bow.”

Alec didn't know that he never intended to keep his bow and quiver. Magnus took away his best means to keep those he loved safe, if only for a few hours. Alec gave in to his terms without hesitation. Magnus is hit with a wave of belated guilty conscience.

Some of that must show on his face because Alec fixes him with soft eyes. “Whatever you're thinking Magnus, don't. It's alright.”

Magnus isn't entirely convinced, but he pushes that away for later examination, too. He nods to the bow. “Assuming you lost your bow in a fight and retrieved it like that.. what would you do without arrows?”

A smile melts away the lingering concern on Alec's face. “Who says I'd have no arrows?” He lifts his hand and an arrow appears, balanced perfectly in his palm.

Magnus really doesn't know why he's surprised by that. “You continue to amaze me.”

Alec's smile widens. “I'm happy to deliver.”

Magnus looks at the arrow intently. “Do you have to train with your arrows, too? Isn't that impractical? You can't possibly spare the time to collect all of them when you go on missions, right?”

Alec laughs. “Yeah. The arrows are a little different. They don't require a connection like my bow does, but I need to rune them before I can call them to me.”

Magnus blinks at him. “Rune? You mean to tell me there's a special Arrow Rune that I know nothing about?”

“No. I'm sorry to disappoint. It's.. wait, it's easier if I just show you.” Alec reaches over to the side table where his stele lies and grabs it. He rearranges the arrow so he's holding it close to the fletching and moves the stele along the shaft. The arrow shines in a dim golden light and Alec gives it a thorough once over, turning it gradually to get it from all sides. His eyes squint slightly in concentration and Magnus suppresses a coo.

Alec seems to notice anyway because he glances over. “Hm?”

“Nothing,” Magnus waves him off. “Carry on, please.”

Alec does, and once he's satisfied he hands the arrow over. Magnus isn't sure if he's imagining it but he thinks the metal is a little warmer than it would normally be.

Alec shuffles around a little until he and Magnus are face to face, the bow between them on the ground. There's excitement in his eyes. “And now prepare for my best trick.”

Magnus feels anticipation rise in his chest. Alec holds his gaze, then raises his arms and suddenly his bow is there in his hands with an arrow nocked and he pulls the string back in one smooth movement. Magnus realizes a heartbeat later that his own hands are empty. Alec snatched the arrow right out of them.

He takes in Alec's impeccable form. Nobody would stand a chance against this. Alec went from unarmed to instant killmode in less than half a second. He idly looks at the arrow head pointing at his neck from barely a handbreadth away and feels nothing but admiration for a weapon expertedly wielded. Not even half a decade ago this view would have been cause for mortal fear. How the times change.

Alec blinks and the arrow vanishes, falling back into Magnus's lap from mid air. Magnus picks it up and prods at it with his magic. He still gets nothing from it. This definitely requires further investigation.

At a later time though, he decides, when he sees Alec putting his bow down again.

“When I woke up you were enhancing your connection to you bow, strengthening it against distractions, correct?” he inquires innocently.

Alec nods, seizing him up appraisingly. Damn. He knows Magnus and his tells too well it seems. Might as well drop the act then.

“I was just thinking, I could help you with that. Provide a distraction and see if you can withstand it.” He inspects his fingernails and casually magics them a few shades darker.

Alec huffs. “I don't think the kind of distraction you have in mind will present itself on a battlefield.”

Magnus flicks his gaze to him. “Is that a rejection of my offer?”

The amusement sitting in the corner of Alec's mouth is answer enough.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Ralf: I just wanted to rant about the bow and the magic and the plot holes, how do I _end_ this thing now?!  
>  Magnus: *slowly raising one hand* I have an idea.  
> Alec: ...  
> Ralf: ...  
> Magnus: ...  
> Alec: .................*sigh* Fine.
> 
> Click [here](https://66.media.tumblr.com/2481e67f8b30d130127c4911d87e413f/tumblr_pf2kqk1Vwe1vil0emo2_500.gif) to see Alec's cute squint while runing arrows and [here](https://66.media.tumblr.com/56fcd83ab945359c2612f3de7ceafb79/tumblr_pf8m2qQ4uq1x19unuo1_250.gif) to see the gif that inspired that throw-away comment about Jace. ([post](http://dailyaleclightwood.tumblr.com/post/178091175926/deflect-rune-appreciation) [sources](https://facilisdescensusavernoo.tumblr.com/post/178204969718))
> 
> If you read this and thought “okay, fine, but _what the actual hell_ ” then click [here](https://ralfstrashcan.tumblr.com/post/178788385314/alec-bow-quiver-arrows-glamor-plot-hole) to read the musings that inspired this ficlet.
> 
> ....and if after this you _still_ can't get enough of magic theory, check the comment section ;)


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